Education Commons^™

Ouachita Announces Another Increase For Spring '24 Enrollment, Felley Lawson, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University has reported its highest spring enrollment in more than 40 years with a total Spring 2024 headcount of 1,722.

The university has sustained momentum in student recruitment and retention, maintaining steady growth with a total enrollment surge of 20% since 2016 in contrast to reports of declining enrollment in colleges and universities nationwide.

Ouachita's Fall 2023 Enrollment Highest In 57 Years, Felley Lawson, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University has reported its highest enrollment in 57 years, with a Fall 2023 headcount of 1,815.

Since 2016, the university has sustained momentum that’s reflected in a 20% increase in total enrollment and a 14% growth in undergraduate enrollment. Residential undergraduate enrollment now numbers 1,581. There are 81 students enrolled in Ouachita’s six graduate programs this fall, more than doubling the number who enrolled when graduate programs were reintroduced in 2020 through the university’s expanding catalog.

Does Course Completion Time Affect Student Inter-University Transfer? An Investigation From Selected Private Universities In Kenya, Mercy Igoki, Kibaara Tarsilla, Paul Maku Gichohi

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

The objective of this study was to establish the relationship between the course completion time and student mobility. This study employed a descriptive quantitative survey design. This study targeted 26 registered private universities (including private university constituents where mobility rate records are too high) in Nairobi County, Kenya. The research sample size was 180 private university students and nine registrars. Version 22.0 of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the analyses of quantitative data. Descriptive analysis, inferential statistics, and regression analysis were used to analyse the findings. Descriptive statistics such as standard deviation, mean scores and percentages …

Naturi Harris And Marcus Mcgahee Receive Ouachita's Annie Abrams Living Legacy Award, Addie Woods, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University students Naturi Harris and Marcus McGahee have been named the recipients of the 2023 Annie Abrams Living Legacy Award for Black student leaders. They both will receive $2,500.

Established in 2020, the scholarship honors the legacy of civil rights activist and Arkadelphia native Annie Abrams of Little Rock, Ark., and recognizes students who have demonstrated leadership and service within Ouachita’s Multicultural Organization Reaching Equality (MORE), living out the university’s mission to live lives of meaningful work.

Madison Melcher Wins $5,000 In Annual Ouachita Business Plan Competition, Addie Woods, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University’s Hickingbotham School of Business hosted its 13th annual Business Plan Competition in December. Madison Melcher, a senior business administration major from Rockwall, Texas, placed first in the competition with her business plan, Covered by Grace, and received a $5,000 cash prize. Melcher was advised by Johan Eriksson, visiting instructor of business administration and director of entrepreneurship programs.

Megan Foshee Selected For National League For Nursing Leadership Program, Addie Woods, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Megan Foshee, assistant professor and coordinator of the nursing simulation lab in Ouachita Baptist University’s Department of Nursing, has been selected for the National League for Nursing’s 2023 Leadership Development Program for Simulation Educators. The year-long initiative is part of the NLN Leadership Institute.

The simulation leadership development initiative is designed for experienced nurse educators in the simulation field who want to have a leadership role in simulation.

Foshee is one of 15 education simulationists chosen to participate this year in the program, which cultivates leadership skills in nurse educators who have already gained experience at work in the field. …

Three Ouachita Seniors Intern For U.S. Sen. John Boozman, Addie Woods, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Three students from Ouachita Baptist University completed a five-week congressional internship for U.S. Sen. John Boozman this summer. Noah Sanders, a senior political science and Christian studies double major from Little Rock, Ark., and Sarah Spakes, a senior political science and public history double major from Benton, Ark., interned in Boozman’s Washington, D.C., office while Kathryn Totty, a senior political science and communications & media double major from Camden, Ark., interned in Boozman’s El Dorado office.

First-Generation Leaders: A Qualitative Examination Of Characteristics, Traits, And Identity Of First-Generation Graduates In Leadership, Jamie Woolery

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study looked at first-generation college graduates and their paths to successful leadership roles. First-generation college students are defined by the National Association of Personnel Administrators (NASPA) as students from families in which their biological parents did not complete a four-year college degree (NASPA, 2017). An investigation was conducted on demographics, access to education, opportunity, and other factors that lend themselves to successful first-generation leaders who changed the narrative for themselves and their communities. This study looked at the previously conducted literature to provide background support for the need of the research, along with further recommendations and interviews which added …

Hartsell Awarded Mid-America Regional Emmy For Battle Of The Ravine Video Essay, Kaitlyn Stoddard, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University junior Chase Hartsell was awarded a Regional EMMYⓇ for his video essay about the Ouachita-Henderson State University football rivalry Battle of the Ravine, titled “A November Morn.” The award was presented to him by the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) at the 46th annual Regional EMMYⓇ Gala on Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch in St. Louis, Mo.

According to John Paul, chair of the NATAS Mid-America education committee, the Mid-America chapter honors high school and college students with awards called crystal pillars that …

Student Loan Debt In Mountain West States, Zachary Walusek, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet summarizes findings on student loan debt across Mountain West states from “Student Loan Debt by State,” a report by the Education Data Initiative.

Dnp Final Report: Mission Cyborg: An Ebp Project Integrating Hybrid Learning In An Undergraduate Nursing Course, Mary A. Thomas

DNP Final Reports

In modern times it is an expectation of students that technology be incorporated into how they receive their education. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light how pure reliance on traditional face-to-face (F2F) learning can be detrimental to student learning. Many institutes of higher education had already implemented hybrid/blended learning prior to the pandemic and saw no difference in their NCLEX-RN pass rates. This evidence-based practice project gathered, reviewed, and synthesized evidence in order to determine if implementing different teaching strategies would maintain or improve student performance on both unit exams and end of course exit exams.

Ouachita Theatre Department Presents Musical By Senior Sammy Campione From Feb. 16-21, Felley Lawson, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

The Department of Theatre Arts at Ouachita Baptist University will present “Tanglewood,” a musical written and directed by senior Sammy Campione, from Feb. 16-21 in Verser Theatre, 409 Ouachita Street. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 16-17; Saturday, Feb. 19; and Monday, Feb. 21. A matinee is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 20, at 2:30 p.m.

“Tanglewood” was selected for the department’s annual Muse Project, which allows students majoring in theatre, musical theatre or theatre education to create works based on what most inspires them and then bring those works to the stage.

A Circular Pedagogy For Higher Education, Lucia Morales, Jon-Hans Coetzer, Nadia Barkoczi, Lia Pop, Claudia Marian, Patrick Flynn

Working Papers

Over the last two decades, higher education has been subject to significant scrutiny due to increasing pressures to provide a meaningful and relevant learning experience to the student population, and by their strong connection to the functioning of the economic and political systems. By reflecting on the controversies surrounding pedagogy, this paper contributes to the current debate by exploring pedagogy as a circular process where learners grow and develop by taking different roles and identities as they navigate a research-informed learning continuum defined by growing levels of complexity and uncertainty. This study introduces a new pedagogical paradigm for adult education, …

Ouachita Receives Prerequisite Approval For 4-Year Bsn Program In Arkadelphia, Felley Lawson, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University received prerequisite approval last week from the Arkansas State Board of Nursing to establish a 4-year, residential pre-licensure program offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

“It is an historic time for Ouachita and our nursing students,” said Dr. Brenda Trigg, director of nursing in Ouachita’s Patterson School of Natural Sciences. “Offering a 4-year residential BSN program will allow students to experience Ouachita’s student-focused culture, study with experienced, qualified faculty and prepare for a career that will serve patients in the state, region and beyond.”

Ouachita To Build 144-Bed Student Apartment Complex For Fall 2022, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University will break ground on a 144-bed, $12.6 million student apartment complex this month, with plans for it to be open for the Fall 2022 semester.

The apartments are phase two of Project Foresight, an initiative the university launched three years ago. Project Foresight encompasses eight acres and 30 properties on the southwest edge of campus, including many that were vacant and seriously deteriorated.

Phase one of Project Foresight included leasing land to alumni-owned Pediatrics Plus, a children’s specialty healthcare clinic. The company built an $8 million facility adjacent to Ouachita’s campus that opened in January 2021. It …

Ouachita Graduate Named Alpha Chi H.Y. Benedict Fellowship Fourth Alternate, Mandy Halbert, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Alpha Chi National College Honor Society named Sidney Salyers of Sugar Land, Texas, the $3,000 H.Y. Benedict Fellowship fourth alternate at the Alpha Chi National Convention in April. Salyers graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication sciences and disorders from Ouachita Baptist University in May.

The H.Y. Benedict Fellowship is awarded to nominees for their first year of graduate study at any institution. Nominees must complete their undergraduate degree in the year of their application for the fellowship and must enroll in a full-time graduate or professional program for the following semester. Applicants for the …

Deliberate Indifference: An Exploration Of The Student Survivor Activism Group Movement, Shyla Kallhoff

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

#MeToo. It’s On Us. End Rape on Campus. #BeTheSwede. Dear UNL. These phrases have united people all over the world to use their voices and speak out about sexual violence. In higher education, these statements empower students to make their voices heard, and simultaneously invoke fear in campus administrators who do not want to be held accountable for the mishandling/lack of Title IX cases. Student survivor activism groups, the subject of this study, have formed at universities around the country and often use similar statements to advocate for changes they feel need to happen. Finding no previous research, it is …

A Phenomenological Study Examining The Challenges And Strategies Of Students Who Are Parents In The Higher Education Setting, Amy Joelle Dewitt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the challenges of student-parents, or those students who are also parents, in higher education and discover the strategies that this student population has found to overcome such challenges. Participants included student-parents who attended residential classes, online, and/or in hybrid formats at a public institution. Tinto’s (2012) theory of student persistence guided this study with the abundance of trials student-parents encounter through their student career. Knowles’ (1990) theory of adult learning and views on self-directed learning also contributed to this study examining how students learn as adults who take accountability for …

Ouachita Announces Students Named To Spring 2020 Dean's List, Rachel Moreno, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University has named more than 400 students to its Spring 2020 Dean’s List.

To be named to the Dean’s List, a student must compile at least a 3.5 grade point average and be classified as a full-time student, with a minimum of 12 academic hours and have no incomplete or failing grade for the semester.

Ouachita Baptist University, a private liberal arts university in Arkadelphia, Ark., is entering its 134^th year as a Christ-centered learning community. It is ranked the No. 1 “Best Value” college in Arkansas by Niche.com and the No. 2 “Regional College in the …

Eng 206 - Covid-19 Personal Reflection, Joi Winters Chavaleh

Personal Reflections

Personal reflection submitted by University of Maine student Chavaleh Joi Winters during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The submission is a essay Winters submitted as part of her University of Maine English 206 Class.

Covid-19 Personal Reflection, David Valls Manclus

Personal Reflections

Personal reflection of University of Maine graduate student David Valls. The reflection was submitted using the COVID-19 UMaine Community Archive Google Form.

Covid-19 Personal Reflection, Jordan Hess

Personal Reflections

Personal reflection of University of Maine student Jordan Hess as of April 15th, 2020. Orono, ME. The reflection was submitted using the COVID-19 UMaine Community Archive Google Form.

Voices Of Mixed-Race Asian Students On College Campuses, Amy Sara Lim

Honors Papers and Posters

Research suggests that there are a growing number of people who identify as mixed-race Asian Americans, and thus there is a growing need to understand and document their experiences (Literte,2009; Sims 2010; Tamai, Nakashima, Williams, 2017). The central question of this study is: how do mixed-race Asian students’ racial identities affect their identities as learners within social, emotional, academic and physical contexts? The goal of this research project is to explore the educational experiences of mixed-race Asian students at a Southern California university with the intention of developing a critical mixed-race pedagogy for educators and scholars. Through mixed methodologies involving …

Preparing Student Paramedics For The Mental Health Challenges Of The Profession By Using The Wisdom Of The Experienced, Lisa Holmes, Natalie Ciccone, Lynne Cohen, Richard Brightwell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Given the significant mental health issues affecting our paramedics, there exists an urgent need to promote positive mental health and well-being among future cohorts of student paramedics. This study investigated the preparedness of student paramedics for the mental health challenges of the profession and explored the coping strategies used by experienced paramedics. The study was conducted in two parts. Part A comprised of two surveys which were developed and administered to 16 course coordinators and 302 students of the 16 accredited undergraduate paramedicine courses across Australia and New Zealand. The survey aimed to identify the perceived need for preparation within …

Forget Power Dynamics: Why You Should Be Bbfs With Your Students And Professors, Maygan Barker

Writing Center Analysis Papers

This paper is half personal narrative and half reflection on the nature of power dynamics in the classroom and writing center. The paper examines the nature and nuances of the word “relationship,” how we interact with the concept of relationships and power, and the ways we limit our joys through limiting the types of relationships we engage in. From there it discusses how to challenge those power dynamics in the classroom and writing center, and the benefits of doing so.

The Wall Of Silence: Disrupting Kairotic Spaces, Victoria Jaye

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Every class has a balance of kairotic space where teachers have power and students accept that power within the confining space of the classroom. Power defines our world as well as our relationships to one another; without power there is no control which can be key to governing a classroom. Disruption of this power dynamic can open dialogue between teachers and students that might not have existed otherwise because students feel confined to the strictures binding their power creating a wall of silence. Using brainstorming and reflecting as well as peer tutoring, I experimented with breaking down the wall of …

Law School News: 'Rwu Law Is Essential To The Vision' 8-30-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Impact Of A Co-Curricular Program On Students’ Perceptions Of Personal And Professional Growth, Brenda Pahl, Jeffrey A. Bates, Zach Jenkins, Aleda Chen

Pharmacy Practice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Student Perceptions Of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences, Jaclyn Boyle, Zach Jenkins, Thad Franz, Charles Cather, Nicole K. Stute, Nicole G. Harper, Alison Dittmer, Christy Hartline

Pharmacy Practice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Ability Of Student Pharmacists To Facilitate Human Immunodeficiency Virus Point-Of-Care Testing, Anna M. Staudt, Juanita A. Draime, Nicole K. Stute, Meiling G. Norfolk, Zach Jenkins

Pharmacy Practice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.